Challenge-XIV-01

[lymond]

While the general Hall of Fame is an ongoing competition, we are running a series of ten games called the Hall of Fame Challenge Series. Standard Hall of Fame rules (*) still apply, but any games meeting the settings of one of the games will be counted towards the Challenge.

(*) Please read the >> HOF rules << BEFORE playing!
(*) Games must be played using the >> BUFFY MOD 3.19.003 <<
(*) Games to be submitted via the >> Civ IV Hall of Fame Website <<
(*) New players, please >> register << using your CFC forum name​

Settings:

• Victory Condition: Conquest (though all victory conditions must be enabled)
• Difficulty: Chieftain
• Starting Era: Ancient
• Map Size: Standard
• Speed: Marathon
• Map Type: Global Highlands
• Required: No Vassal States, No Tribal Villages
• Must Not Be Checked: No Barbarians
• Civ: India (Asoka)
• Opponents: Must include Babylon (Hammurabi), China (Mao Zedong), England (Churchill), France (Napoleon), Japan (Tokugawa), Mali (Mansa Musa)
• Version: 3.19.003
• Date: 1st May to 30th November 2014

Must not play as Inca.
The earliest finish date wins, with score as a tiebreaker.

 

[Pollina]

Make sure you know what the different map options on Global Highlands do, before you start the game. With the right map settings, you can kill everyone with warriors only.

Got a 2845 BC finish on my first serious attempt. 3000 BC should be possible with some luck.

 

[DizzKneeLand33]

Make sure you know what the different map options on Global Highlands do, before you start the game. With the right map settings, you can kill everyone with warriors only.

Needless to say, I chose "Random" on some of those settings and had to research Astronomy....

 

[lymond]

Yeah, I didn't mean for this to be such an quick victory for sneaky types like Pollina . I'd always assumed Global Highlands was a multi-continents map. I think I only played it once before in an XoTM or something official like and that's what it looked like.

Great win, Poll!

Ofc, everyone now has a benchmark so maybe this challenge can be kinda fun and exciting try to best it.

 

[Pollina]

Sneaky?

I believe the only guaranteed multi-continents maps are Hemispheres, Medium & Small and Archipelago(?).

Global Highlands with massive continents is actually a great map script, if you are looking for an interesting and challenging (macro-)Pangaea. I kinda wish there were more gauntlets with it. From what I've seen, it's fairly balanced, too.

 

[AgedOne]

I have to say, I haven't had a go at this one yet, but ...

You took 6 enemy cities in 77 turns, Pollina!!

I'll be lucky to have found 4 of the 6 in that time, going one tile at a time.
I suppose, on Chieftain, you can whip warriors out nearly every turn almost without penalty, right?

 

[lymond]

Global Highlands ...

I'll keep that in mind for future games. It's a map I've been wanting to play as it is standard for Quattro, but I've not seen the map played in ages. Ofc, I'll up the difficulty quite a bit for the next one.

 

[shulec]

Sneaky?

I believe the only guaranteed multi-continents maps are Hemispheres, Medium & Small and Archipelago(?).

I have cheesed an archipelago game with all the same AI on a continent. They are not common.

 

[Pollina]

I have cheesed an archipelago game with all the same AI on a continent. They are not common.

Good to know. I suspected that Pangaea-Archipelagos were possible with snaky continents, but had never seen one. I will put Archipelago-Conquest/Religious on my already too long list for bad maptype-VC combinations for HOF competitions.

 

[dohh]

Whats Your secret Pollina? You finished this map with 77 turns, I wasted twice that time. As its a mountainous map, and some AI will have combat 1 warriors + churchill favouring archery, how is that even possible? I beelined BW, got very lucky to have bronze in my starting city and spammed axes straight to AIs direction.

I believe its a lack of imagination, but I can not see, how I could had done it 2 times faster Please enlightnen me!

 

[Pollina]

Whats Your secret Pollina?

It wouldn&#8217;t be my secret anymore if I told you.
Ok, I&#8217;ll give you a few hints. You should be able to figure out the rest on your own. You'll have more fun that way.

Spoiler :

Try to find answers to the following questions:

- When does the AI build their first warrior?
- When does the AI build their second warrior?
- How many warriors does it take to kill a fortified (aggressive) warrior in a (hill) city?
- Anything to learn from my game log? (Edit: link is fixed)

And here&#8217;s another hint:

Spoiler :

Overthink your game settings. You forgot to check the most important option for difficulties below prince. lymond was kind enough to not ban it.

 

[zbgayumn]

I believe its a lack of imagination, but I can not see, how I could had done it 2 times faster Please enlightnen me!

I have to agree. I ran through this scenario at least 10 times, and I don't understand it. Most of the maps I had, it took 30 turns just to walk from my city to the farthest enemy city. Did you attack with a single warrior?

The Chieftain difficulty can be quite generous about winning battles with bad odds, but not that generous. I found that at least 3 warriors were necessary to guarantee defeating a single warrior in a city. 4 warriors if the city was on a hill. By the time I built and marched 4 warriors to the enemy, I would have already research AH and BW. I mostly abandoned the games where I didn't get either horses or copper. I made a few attempts with archers, but they are doomed against archers from Mao, Churchill, or Mansa.

In the game I finally won, I got copper in my BFC and horses from Beijing. The continent layout sucked though, and it took me till 1570 BC to move all those units from one end to the other to finish off the 3 Bowmen Hammurabi had garrisoned.

 

[AgedOne]

OK. I have one up on the board for this game.
1900 BC.
Could have been much quicker, had I realised most of the AI hadn't got archers yet. My army was a ridiculous overkill for my final conquest.
Started with a 'walk-in' with a warrior. Continued with a '5 warriors v 1'.
Moved up to archers. One city had horses, so I had some chariots at the end!

 

[Pollina]

5 warrior vs. 1 is overkill.
Archers aren't really any better than warriors. They are more expensive and can't get CR promotions.

Improved my date to 3025 BC. Had trouble finding that last AI. 3200 BC would have been very possible otherwise.

 

[AgedOne]

5 warrior vs. 1 is overkill.
Archers aren't really any better than warriors. They are more expensive and can't get CR promotions.

Yeah. I was all overkill and wasted effort in this first attempt!
In my defence, I wasn't sure whether I would be meeting 2 warriors or 1 in that city.
I know what you're saying about archers is true, but I still find it difficult to get past the feeling that archers defeat warrior defenders more comprehensively - in practice - and take less damage.

Improved my date to 3025 BC. Had trouble finding that last AI. 3200 BC would have been very possible otherwise.

I noticed you'd beaten the 3000 BC. Well done!
Those map settings certainly have the potential to generate a very small and contained landmass - almost circular in some cases (all cases?). If you start in the centre, you are perfectly set-up for a fast finish.
By the way, are you still using tropical, or have you tried any other climate settings?

I don't think I will be able to endanger your finish dates - I just can't force myself to take risks of losing my whole attack force - but I think I will improve on my first effort

 

[Qactus]

Warrior rush! Haven't done that in a looong time. First two attempts featured one isolated civ. But in the third attempt all were on one continent. Finished in turn 111 AND managed to build a Buddhist Monastery

Also, Chieftain level is weird. It's funny how a bear on open land is not able to even scratch a warrior!

 

[lymond]

Warrior rush! Haven't done that in a looong time. First two attempts featured one isolated civ. But in the third attempt all were on one continent. Finished in turn 111 AND managed to build a Buddhist Monastery

Also, Chieftain level is weird. It's funny how a bear on open land is not able to even scratch a warrior!

Below..I think...Monarch level, you get a certain number of free barb wins per level. Maybe it is Prince that stops the free wins..not sure, but I know you get at least 2 or 3 on Noble level. Not sure the exact number per level. I'm sure someone has that info. I also believe on higher levels barbs actually get a slight bonus against, whereas the AIs get a bonus against the barbs.

 

[cas]

This is the info from the reference guide I use. Think it is by Anion. This was 5th edition back in 3.13 don't know if anything has changed...pretty sure the 4 free barb wins is accurate.

Chieftain:

Bonuses:
+3 health
+5 happy
18 free units
+1 AI attitude
2 free techs:
Wheel, Agriculture

Tribal village results:
20% high gold
15% technology
10% low gold
10% Settler, Worker, Warrior
5% Scout, experience, healing, maps
5% barbarians (only weak)

Modifiers:
research ×0.75
unit cost ×0.30
distance maint. ×0.55
civic upkeep ×0.60
inflation ×0.70
AI costs ×1.30

Others:
50% animal attack probability
animal strength: &#8211;60%
barbarians in 45 turns&#8226;&#8226;&#8226;
barb. city creation prob.: 50%
4 free wins vs. barbarians
barbarian strength: &#8211;30%

cas

 

[Qactus]

I was a bit frustrated by challenge No. 7 (couldn't get a missionary past Toku's borders) so I played another round of warrior rush instead.
Managed to shave a couple of turns off #1 and finished in 3055 BC

 

[enKage]

Welcome to "how patient you are' challange series

1) Spent half an hour for 3H start + plain hill in first ring
2) Reload, you started on the coast, repeat 1). When done. after next hour..
3) Reload, you forgot to check No city razing option, repeat steps 1 and 2
4) Reload, there is 1 AI or different landmass or blocked by mountains or Toku/Churchill started on 3H tile at most distant place. Reload
(10 hours later)
Congrats! you've finished the challenge winning before the deadline

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Conquests on such a diff level are mainly a matter of luck, there should be also huts allowed here as they will probably have lsmaller impact that a map rolled